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non-step related but I have a question (re:breast cancer)

semi's picture

Submitted by semi on Fri, 09/05/2008 - 4:39pm

but even more importantly I have a reminder for every woman on here... get your mammograms!! Unfortunately I have a friend starting chemo next week for breast cancer. She lives out of town and I want to send her a little care package. If any of you have been through it can you give me some ideas for what to include? I've heard that you want to have mints or hard candy with you because the chemo leaves a bad taste in your mouth... I'm looking for ideas along those lines, little things you might not think about unless you've been through it. PM me if you don't want to post.

I know this is entirely non-step related but step-talk is the biggest pool of women I know of that I can reach easily. And did I mention GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS!!

Comments

acep74's picture

Submitted by acep74 on Fri, 09/05/2008 - 10:37pm

thats very nice of you, knowing that , will be alot for your friend as she will know she has support. Like the other comment books, and maybe something that looks silly but will cheer her up at the saddest points. Mybe a sill teddy or a weird lokking thing...
I dont know but the biggest thing is knowing she has friends. Mybe if there is alot of u putting in u could organise some house cleaning or gardening as she wont be well enough to that later.
good luck for you and your friends recovery.

StepLightly's picture

Submitted by StepLightly on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 1:04am

who have breast cancer (yes, unfortunately I have more than one)love getting massages during chemo and radiation. So maybe a gift cert. for that? I guess it really helps work the medicine through (for chemo) and just releases the tension, etc....

Sita Tara's picture

Submitted by Sita Tara on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 10:22pm

Definitely massage. My SIL went through chemo for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Anything that will help them heal. My SIL went to yoga religiously too on her non-chemo ill days. So maybe a yoga/massage gift certificate near her so she can use it how she wants?

She liked to get pedicures then too. Anything to pamper.

"Om Tare Tutare Ture Mama Ayurpunye Jnana Putin Kuru Svaha"
~Sita Tara Mantra

Sita Tara's picture

Submitted by Sita Tara on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 10:24pm

My mammogram is on Tuesday. I have had to have them annually since I was 31 Sad

"Om Tare Tutare Ture Mama Ayurpunye Jnana Putin Kuru Svaha"
~Sita Tara Mantra

B's picture

Submitted by B on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 2:40am

Make a simple meal (ie: spaghetti & a salad) and take it over on one of her chemo days. A lot of women try to be Super Woman, even when they're going through something like chemo - knowing that dinner is taken care of will ease her mind a little.

Chel Bell's picture

Submitted by Chel Bell on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 7:41am

called "Crazy,Sexy,Cancer Stories", that I saw at the library once.....I forget who wrote it, but Sheryl Crow's name was on the cover as well. It looked like a cool book, might be helpful???"~waiting on the world to change~"

StepLightly's picture

Submitted by StepLightly on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 5:06pm

I hosted a "going away party for T's boobies" before my friend T's double masectomy. It was her SIL's idea and it was a smash! We got drunk, gave her funny and serious gifts, had boobie cupcakes, played pin the tassle on the titty (cardboard, not a real one). It was a blast -- we drank, laughed, cried....it was moving.

Most Evil's picture

Submitted by Most Evil on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 6:45pm

Hey, re. this idea, I read in a book once where a woman who had to have a mastectomy took photos of her breasts, to remember them by. I am talking about tasteful nudes for private use! My sis has already had it once (she had a lumpectomy and chemo) so I am scared but plan to do this if it comes to that. I think it is a beautiful idea.

Another tip my sis gave me was, after she was diagnosed and treated I had a mammogram and they called me back in to review something on mine. She had kind of shut us out and wouldn't talk about it, etc. (she lives far away) but then I called her terrified and she said, 'just keep breathing'. She had a friend who had all kinds of terrible things happen, rape, a child dying, her own cancer, and thru it all she got thru by just thinking . . 'breathe in (feels good), breathe out (feels good)' to get thru it all!

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." - Vladimir Lenin

stepmom2be's picture

Submitted by stepmom2be on Sun, 09/07/2008 - 10:49am

Please also remember when you get your mammo's- to get Pap tests as well.

I'm 26 and had the first stages of cervical cancer with lymphnodes in my right ovary.

It's never too late to start regular screenings. (Im really glad you posted this.) And Im so, so sorry about all the stories I heard of what people went through with their own cancer demons.